As a result of improvements in digital camera and electronic printer performance, not only amateurs but also photographic industry professionals have begun using digital cameras and electronic printers. Amateurs as well as professionals typically make use of a simple system wherein an electronic printer is connected by way of a dedicated interface cable, LAN, or the like to a personal computer on which a photo retouching program is installed. Use of a sophisticated photo retouching program makes it possible to carry out a diverse variety of retouching and/or color correction operations on photographic images taken with a digital camera, and/or freely vary the size and/or resolution of such images. Inkjet printers are favorably used as such electronic printers, as they permit printed output of high-quality full-color photographs that are as good as silver halide photographs.
The typical system described above performs extremely well in terms of its ability to permit each individual photograph to be finished as necessary to achieve a quality print which can then be output. However, at photo studios or other such sites dealing with commercial or professional photographic prints, a variety of other capabilities are required in addition to capabilities related to high-quality print generation.
First and foremost, professionals demand the ability to produce printed output having color that is consistent with what they were expecting. One factor which interferes with this ability is the fact that the characteristics affecting color in digital cameras, computer display monitors, printers, and other such image processing devices differ from device to device. For this reason, the color of the original image taken with the camera, the color of the image on the monitor screen, and the color of the image which is printed out will all be different. Despite this, conventional systems do not possess the capability to automatically adjust color to compensate for differences in color characteristics among devices. Unless the user has a good understanding of the color characteristics of each device and manually adjusts color himself or herself in, for example, photo retouching software or the like, the user will be unable to produce printed output having color that is consistent with what the user was expecting.
Second, ability to efficiently handle studio operations is demanded. For example, as the operation which takes the most time at a photo studio is the retouching of photographs, there is a demand for reduction in the amount of time that must be set aside for same. Conventional photo retouching software is provided with an extremely diverse variety of retouching functionalities so as to also appeal to graphical designers and the like. However, as the retouching carried out most frequently by photo studios is more or less limited to a few particular categories, it is instead more important that they be able to carry those particular categories of retouching quickly and in routine fashion. Furthermore, as there are any number of standard sizes which may be used for printed output of commercial photographs, prior to printing it is necessary to carry out print layout operations wherein photograph size is made to conform to such a standard size and/or multiple numbers of photographs of standard size are arranged on a sheet of media. However, such print layout operations also represent an inconvenience in conventional systems. There is therefore a demand that such print layout operations be made capable of being carried out easily and in routine fashion. There is furthermore a desire to be able to carry out photo retouching operations simultaneously and in parallel fashion with respect to printing of photos which have already been retouched.
Third, ability to manage studio operations is demanded. For example, capabilities such as would permit proper management of printer status and/or execution history for a multiplicity of print jobs are demanded. There is demand and desire that such management should allow prevention of interruption to printing operations caused by printer failures or the like, allow supply of consumables to take place as appropriate, allow system maintenance to take place as appropriate, and/or improve efficiency of operations for calculation of charges.